“Deal,” said Stephen. “I guess we’re not going to be able to stake the place out though.”
“Yeah — too bad,” said Jack.
After another hour, Kate came out to check on Jack and Stephen and tell them that Ben was about to get stitches. An hour after that she came out to announce that they could go see him. She led the boys up to room two seventeen in the pediatric ward. They found their friend stretched out on a bed and watching television.
“Are you going to stay here?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, they want me to stay overnight for observation,” said Ben. “Just one night though.”
“That’s cool,” said Stephen.
“You got a private room?” asked Jack.
“Yeah, it’s great, I can watch TV all night,” said Ben.
“Not
“Did you play the game at all?” asked Jack.
“No, I didn’t get a chance. Shoot, I don’t know what I did with it,” Ben said, nervous.
“I put it in the closet with your clothes,” said Jack’s mom. “That reminds me: Jack, I’ll take Ben’s phone now.”
Jack dug the phone out of his pocket and handed it to his mom. “How many stitches did you get?” asked Jack. “Too bad you have that bandage on, we can’t even see everything.”
“Yeah, how does it look?” asked Stephen.
“I got four stitches, and it looks okay I guess,” said Ben. “They didn’t cut much hair off at all.”
“Just four? That thing was huge,” said Jack.
“Yup, just four,” said Ben. “But I have a concussion.”
“No wonder,” said Stephen, “you hit that tree
“Yeah,” said Jack.
After a small tap on the door, Jack’s dad poked his head in. Seeing that he had the correct room, he came in. “Hey Ben, how are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, Mr. Randolph,” Ben replied.
Kate smiled at her husband as Greg crossed the room and leaned over Ben. “They taking good care of you here?”
“Yeah, so far,” Ben said and smiled.
Kate stood up from her chair, “Ben? Are you getting tired?”
“A little, I guess,” he replied.
“Honey,” she turned to her husband, “why don’t you take Jack and Stephen out for a bit and come back later.” she turned back to Ben, “I’ll stay here with you for a bit so you can get some rest,” she said.
“Thanks,” said Ben.
“Okay boys, let’s get going,” said Jack’s dad. “What can we get you from the outside world, Ben?”
“I’m okay I guess, I don’t need anything,” said Ben.
“Nonsense, we’ll bring you back an after-dinner milkshake. What flavor?”
“Chocolate!” said Ben.
“Anything for you honey?” he asked his wife.
“I’m fine. I have my book,” she said.
“Great, see you soon,” he said. Greg herded Jack and Stephen out of the room.
“Bye Ben. See you later,” called Jack.
After dinner, Jack’s dad brought the boys back to Ben’s room. Ben finished eating his dinner and Kate ran down to the cafeteria for a snack.
Jack’s dad had taken the boys out for ice cream after dinner and they had brought milkshakes to the hospital — a large chocolate for Ben, and a small strawberry for Kate.
Sipping her milkshake, Kate took her husband aside to update him on her communication — “I talked to his dad this evening and told him that everything was okay. He was relieved and he’s not going to come out just for this,” she said to Greg privately.
“That’s good — anything from Sheri?”
“No answer, but apparently there’s something wrong with her phone, so she might not get the message,” said Kate.
“Why don’t I go over there and track her down?” asked Greg.
“Oh, would you? I would feel better if she were here,” said Kate. “And if she’s not there, can you leave a note?”
“Sure, sure, do you think she’s out of town?” he asked.
“I don’t know. She sent me a note the other day and said something about having to take Ben for a couple of weeks, but then I didn’t hear from her again, and Ben said he hasn’t heard anything either.”
“I hope she’s okay. Do you have another contact for her? A sister, or parent, or something,” Greg asked.
“Nope, nothing,” she replied. “His dad doesn’t seem to know how to get in touch with her either. She can be pretty cavalier about things, but she’s never just disappeared like this before.”
“Oh, what about his brother?” asked Greg. “Doesn’t he have a job?”
“Ben said that he quit recently,” she said.
“Okay, I’ll get over there and meet you back at the house later,” said Greg.
“Well, you better call first. If he wants me to, I’m going to see if I can stay here,” she said.
“That chair will kill your back. Why don’t I stay?” Greg offered.
“I’d rather have you at the house,” she said. “But thanks.”
“I’ll call in an hour then, after I’ve checked out his house,” he said.
“Thanks, honey, talk to you soon.”
An hour passed and Greg still hadn’t called. The boys watched TV and Kate sat staring at her book, but she hadn’t flipped a page in several minutes. After ninety minutes, she was about to pick up her phone and call her husband when he walked through the door.
He knelt down next to his wife’s chair and spoke softly — “Nothing — no sign,” he reported. “But I talked to the neighbors and one of them is picking up the mail and newspaper for her.”
“She gets a paper?” asked Kate.
“Yeah, I guess,” he replied. “Anyway, she said she would be gone for a couple weeks. Well, actually, she
“Huh,” said Kate. “You think she would have said something before she went off like that.”
“Didn’t you say you had a note?” Greg asked.
“Yeah, but she didn’t say where she was going, or for how long exactly.”
“Maybe she expected to tell you that when she picked up Ben.”
“I guess.”
“Hey mom?” Jack interrupted.
“What’s up, Bub?” she asked.
“Can we stay here with Ben tonight?”
“Oh, I don’t think so honey — I think only parents and guardians are allowed to stay,” she replied.
“We could sneak back in when the nurses aren’t looking,” Jack offered.
“Jack, that’s not going to help,” she crossed over to Ben’s bed. “Ben, I’ll stay here with you tonight and the boys will be back as soon as we can in the morning.”
“That’s okay Mrs. Randolph — I don’t want you to have to stay here with me,” said Ben. “I’ll be asleep anyway.”
“Ben, I’m going to stay right here with you whether you want me to or not,” said Kate. “And nobody is going to stop me.”
“Thanks, Ms. Randolph,” said Ben.
“Wake up,” Stephen said as he shook Jack.
